Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP, has been rebuked by his party leadership
for endorsing American criticisms of the National Health Service.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said Mr Hannan was wrong in his criticism of the NHS. Andrew Lansley, the Conservative shadow health secretary, accused the MEP of presenting a “negative and partial” view of the NHS in his contribution to the US debate about health care.

Conservative US Republicans opposed to President Barack Obama’s health care plans have used the NHS as an example of “socialised” medicine.

US commentators have made a number of claims about the poor quality and efficiency of NHS care. Some have suggested that elderly people with chronic conditions are effectively left to die for cost reasons. Others have described the British system as "evil" and "Orwellian."

Mr Hannan was in the US earlier this week and in a Fox News interview, he supported some of the Republican criticisms of the NHS.

He said: “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. We have a system where the most salient facts of it you get huge waiting lists, you have bad survival rates and you would much rather fall ill in the US.”

Mr Hannan is a popular figure among grassroots Tories because of his strong right-wing views. His Telegraph.co.uk blog and his public harangue of Gordon Brown in the European Parliament earlier this year also made him a political celebrity in the US.

However, his agenda is at odds with the modernising message of Mr Cameron, who has repeatedly promised that the NHS would be the top priority of a Conservative Government.

As Mr Hannan’s comments spread across the internet, Mr Lansley released a statement defending the NHS and rebuking his party colleague.

Mr Lansley said: "There are millions of people who are grateful for the care they have received from the NHS.

"It does them and the NHS a disservice for Daniel Hannan to give Americans such a negative and partial view. That we can access health care free at point of use, based on need, is something others envy.”

Mr Cameron said he did not agree with Mr Hannan's remarks. Mr Cameron said: "I support the NHS 100% and the Conservative Party supports the NHS 100 per cent."

On his Telegraph.co.uk blog, Mr Hannan made clear he was speaking for himself, not his party.

He said: “I am not the Conservative Party’s health care spokesman. I’m fond of Andrew Lansley, and I strongly support David Cameron as party leader. On this issue, though, I disagree with both of them.”

The US debate about the NHS has triggered a growing backlash in Britain. Senior doctors and the scientist Stephen Hawking have publicly defended the NHS.

The Prime Minister yesterday added his name to a campaign on Twitter, the micro-blogging site, in defence of the NHS.

Mr Brown’s message said: "PM: NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there."

Governments traditionally do not to intervene in the domestic politics of other nations. But the Prime Minister and his Cabinet are irritated by the attacks on the NHS and the British Embassy in Washington DC has been instructed to counter “inaccuracies” about the NHS in the US media.